125 Wis. 631 | Wis. | 1905
"We shall find it unnecessary to consider any ■of the errors assigned, except an instruction in the following-words :
“There is some testimony in the case tending to show that the plaintiff, in the matter of the sale of said land, was in the ■employ of the parties who purchased the land. . That fact of itself will not defeat the claim of the plaintiff. You may •consider that testimony, however, so far as it may have a bearing upon the questions which you are to determine.”
An agent who undertakes the duty of making a sale for another, or performing a duty in that connection involving diligence in promotion of the employer’s interest, cannot recover commission if, without the seller’s knowledge, he also be employed upon compensation to work in the interest of the purchaser. Herman v. Martineau, 1 Wis. 151, 158; Stewart v. Mather, 32 Wis. 344, 354; Meyer v. Hanchett, 39 Wis. 419; S. C. 43 Wis. 246. The principle involved is the same as that supporting the rule that one cannot himself be a purchaser of property which he sells in a fiduciary capacity, and is that average human nature is too frail to resist temptation to yield to one’s own interest, when in conflict with that of an employer or cestui que trust. True, there are many,cases where the character of the employment of the selling agent is such that compensation from the purchaser cannot affect his
By the Court. — Judgment and order appealed from are reversed, and cause remanded for new trial.